PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fuzionaire Diagnostics, Inc. (“Fuzionaire Dx”) today announced a collaborative research agreement with McGill University (“McGill”) and The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital). The collaboration will combine Fuzionaire Dx’s radiopharmaceutical discovery platform and the world-class nuclear medicine and clinical imaging capabilities at McGill and The Neuro to develop new ways to detect and treat neurodegenerative diseases.
Fuzionaire Dx’s versatile chemistry-driven platform, which can radiofluorinate molecules in seconds and at ambient temperature, has the potential to generate a wide variety of novel radiopharmaceuticals enabling clinicians to better diagnose and treat cancers, tissue damage, and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. The platform could also become a new tool for drug discovery, offering valuable insights on the in vivo behavior of pharmaceutical lead compounds at an early stage.
This new collaborative research effort aims to produce radiopharmaceuticals that will localize and image abnormal tissues in the brain, leading to safe and affordable non-invasive diagnostic imaging tests for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and traumatic brain injury. The collaboration will also explore the viability of Fuzionaire Dx’s radiochemistry platform to evaluate investigational therapies against neurodegenerative disease.
“The possibilities of this joint research project are compelling,” said Jean-Philip Lumb, PhD, Associate Professor of Chemistry at McGill. “We’re looking forward to exploring powerful new chemistry with the state-of-the-art radiochemistry and brain imaging infrastructure at McGill and The Neuro.”
In addition to Dr. Lumb, primary leadership for the scientific collaboration includes Alexey Kostikov, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University, and Anton Toutov, PhD, Chief Science Officer of Fuzionaire Dx.
“Fuzioniare Dx is an exciting collaborator for McGill and The Neuro as we seek to translate new fundamental science into the next generation of diagnostic probes and treatment options for neurodegenerative disease,” said Dr. Kostikov.
"This is the beginning of an important partnership,” said Nick Slavin, CEO of Fuzionaire Dx. “By combining strengths, we can expand our platform across the blood-brain barrier and work towards important new radiopharmaceuticals that could impact the health outcomes of many people.”
Supporting Fuzionaire Dx's new work expanding its radiochemistry platform to brain imaging, Jacob Hooker, PhD, an organic chemist with an expertise in neuroimaging, has joined Fuzionaire Dx as a consultant and a member of the scientific advisory board. Dr. Hooker is an Associate Professor in Radiology at Harvard Medical School and Director of Radiochemistry at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, and is known for innovative radiochemistry methodology and the development of imaging agents for the central nervous system.
About McGill University
Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, McGill is a leading Canadian post-secondary institution. It has two campuses, 10 faculties, 12 professional schools, 300 programs of study and almost 41,000 students, including more than 9,700 graduate students. McGill attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,000 international students making up 30% per cent of the student body. Over half of McGill students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 20% who say French is their mother tongue. Find out more at www.mcgill.ca
About The Neuro
The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) is a world-leading destination for brain research and advanced patient care. Since its founding in 1934 by renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Wilder Penfield, The Neuro has grown to be the largest specialized neuroscience research and clinical center in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. The seamless integration of research, patient care, and training of the world’s top minds make The Neuro uniquely positioned to have a significant impact on the understanding and treatment of nervous system disorders. In 2016, The Neuro became the first institute in the world to fully embrace the Open Science philosophy, creating the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute. The Montreal Neurological Institute is a McGill University research and teaching institute. The Montreal Neurological Hospital is part of the Neuroscience Mission of the McGill University Health Centre. For more information, please visit www.theneuro.ca
About Fuzionaire Diagnostics, Inc.
Fuzionaire Diagnostics (“Fuzionaire Dx”) is a radiopharmaceutical company.
Our patented HetSiFA™ compositions, which are synthesized using our alkali metal catalysis, can incorporate radioisotopes into drug compounds and disease-targeting ligands at record-breaking speed.
We make it possible to rapidly produce a broad range of fluorine-18 radiopharmaceuticals for PET imaging using a single catalyst-driven, disease-agnostic platform. Our technology offers researchers and clinicians a new strategy to accelerate drug discovery and detect, diagnose, and monitor more diseases, earlier, and with unprecedented precision.
In addition to biological imaging for drug discovery and clinical applications, our chemistry is being applied to the development of novel anti-cancer radiotherapeutics.
Fuzionaire Dx was co-founded by a team including CEO Nick Slavin, Chief Science Officer Anton Toutov, PhD, and Nova Spivack, and is advised by leading researchers in nuclear medicine and drug discovery.
For more, visit us at: www.fuzionairedx.com